The Armenian side managed to construct defensive trenches from the ruins of a fortress lying two kilometers from the village of Norashen. The trenches went all the way to the quarry in the village of Yerinjatap. Almost all the men from Norashen and Yerinjatap villages were involved in this defense sector – about three hundred people.
Upon receiving news of the beginning of the military march, the Armenian command sent one hundred people from the Vardenis village to this front. The fighting in this direction continued until night and resumed the next day.
In this direction, the Turks did not manage to cause a panic among the population of Aparan that was surrounded from three sides. However, the Turks did attempt to make way for the main Turkish forces in the central part of the front.
The Turks had over a hundred casualties in this direction versus 17 casualties among Armenians from Norashen, 3 from Yerinjatap, and 1 from Vardenis. On that day, the Turks left more than 1000 corpses along with machine guns, weapons, and ammunition on the battlefield. On May 26, the Turks didn’t see success either, failing to advance in any direction.
At the end of May 26, the artillery battery of Captain Khoren Igitkhanyan and the 5th Rifle Regiment under Colonel Hovsepyan were transferred from Sardarapat to Aparan. On May 27, the strength of Armenian soldiers, armed groups, and personnel on the Aparan Front exceeded 9,000.
Although the Turks once again had numerical superiority, the psychological advantage was undeniably on the side of the Armenians. Unable to resist the attacks of the Armenians, the Turks left Nigavan, the village of Melik, and concentrated on the nearby heights of Chahchut.
On May 28, the Armenian National Council in Tbilisi (Georgia) declared Armenia an independent state and assumed responsibility for its government. But on the Aparan Front, Armenian warriors weren’t aware of the good news.
Drastamat Kanayan personally took control of the entire Aparan Front to attack the enemy. Armenians marched forward not without casualties – on this day, Azarik from Sebastia, Countryman from Gandzak, his uncle Martiros from Garni, and other heroes were killed. Despite the losses, the Armenians did not stop the attack even at night.
By May 29, a white flag had been flattering among the bloody remains of the Turkish division.
Interestingly, some researchers of the heroic battle of Aparan do not have information about the military operations in Dzoraglekh and Norashen-Yerinjatap, and some of them even think that the Turks had broken through the front and reached Kuchak and Yerinjatap.
